KirkAnthony

I can't narrow something like this down to 12, so sorry this is a bit bloated. 1. Carolina Crown 2009 2. Cavaliers 2002 3. Cadets 2005 4. Phantom Regiment 2010 5. Cavaliers 1995 6. Blue Devils 2010 7. Phantom Regiment 1996 8. Cavaliers 2003 9. Cadets 2003 10. Carolina Crown 2007 11. Blue Devils 2012 12. Santa Clara Vanguard 1999 -- 13. Troopers 2011 14. Phantom Regiment 2008 15. Magic of Orlando 2002 16. Phantom Regiment 1998 17. Cavaliers 2011 18. Blue Devils 2011 19. Carolina Crown 2013 20. Phantom Regiment 1989 If you want a more honest answer, just take this year's top 12 and that's my list. I seriously can't say enough good things about this year.

I may be completely clueless, but will the awards ceremony be broadcast free on dci.org? I remember watching it in 2011, but I've forgotten if they do that every year or not.

Crown. I know their percussion isn't scoring above and beyond this year, but that extended muffler break leaves me breathless. The ballad is pretty awesome too.

Sure am! Taking the hour and a half trip with a few band staff friends for probably the only live show I'll be able to see this year. Super excited to see Louisiana Stars for the first time.

Hooooly #### this site can be vicious. I don't see how pointing out two top corps represents a lack of creativity overall. Blue Devils, Crown, Bluecoats, Cavies, BAC, and even Phantom to a design extent are doing basically until-now never-before-seen things on the field. There's a wonderful balance of content this and every year. I think the argument should pretty much be over once some countless number of people have to keep reiterating the point that a well-designed show goes nowhere without the right performers. Maybe I'm in no place to comment on this, but I personally saw a huge dip in performance quality between Cavies 2011-2012. Also, returning members does not equal returning quality. BRASSO sure likes to restate their opinions in multiple separate posts a lot, don't they? Okay, I'm done. We should play nice! Everybody's opinion is valid so long as they aren't trying to present it as fact! Interpretation and such, blablabla...

Of the four years that I've been involved/interested in the activity, I've never been cut from a certain corps then later in the season thought "wow I missed a hell of an opportunity there". I mean, I was always disappointed of course, but no specific show ever really gave me a "this is what could've been, aww ####" feeling. Except for this past year when I was seriously gearing up to audition for Crown, then backed out at the last minute because some personal junk made me afraid to take risks like that. Now that we're well into this season, I feel kinda dumb for not going for it. I honestly think, win or no win, Out of this World is a wonderful, uplifting and potential game-changing show, and I would kill to be a part of that. Also, I sorta think looking back that all those months away from home doing what I love most would've done more good for me than any amount of therapy and medication. I know that isn't exactly what the purpose of the thread was, but just reading that title made me really realize that not auditioning for 2014 has been one of my few regrets so far. Now, more in line with the thread: 2005 Cadets. I don't love them, but that show is fantastic beyond words. Maybe the most perfectly performed show ever, if you ask me.

While I really enjoy the show this year for what it is, I realize how poorly it fits in the competitive atmosphere. It's just super clunky and badly designed, but the members are playing the hell out of the music. It's a super fun program, but it just doesn't go anywhere.

I think someone else said this way back in the thread, but I'm not surprised by how well Bluecoats are doing. All the same, I'm definitely super pleased by it. It's getting to the point where if they don't win within the next couple years it'll be long overdue. I AM surprised by how well Cavies are doing, and it's a welcome return to pre-2012 form. Love it love it love it. I wouldn't be disappointed if they went all the way. Also, while I'm not surprised by how wonderful Crown is this year, I am surprised by how great the show is. It seems to me as though they didn't go into this trying to top E=mc^2, but they just put together a ######## show with wonderful music and didn't lose any of the power they had last year. Biggest negative surprises? Blue Devils and Cadets. I love BD, but I'm not immediately taken by this show as I was with Cabaret Voltaire, Through a Glass Darkly or Re:Rite of Spring. Then again I said the same in 2011 and ended up loving that show by August. And while it's no secret that I'm simply not a Cadets fan, I know they can pull out great, innovative shows and I just feel like what they're doing this year has SO been done to death. It's just boring and tacky to me. They sound great, but I just wish their talent had been applied to a more engaging show.

I'm really surprised by peoples' overall reaction to Crown this year. I may be in some super tiny minority here, but I don't see at all how the trampolines clutter the field. They're all pretty far out to each side and aren't very large, and there's still a good majority of the field left to the members, as evidences by the drill, which from what I've seen hasn't been hindered by the props. The frisbees at this point still just kinda fly anywhere, yes, but it's still a pretty interesting experiment that they've got time to fine-tune (and I'm sure they are). I mean, I just couldn't imagine where DCI would be if there weren't programs like Re:Rite of Spring and Out of this World. I understand and cherish the need for tradition and minimalism, but I also understand and cherish the need to take wild risks, and as evidenced by the scores thus far, it's not as if Crown is struggling to keep up with anybody. I just think a lot of these complaints are only made JUST because people see props on the field and are immediately put off, and no matter what the corps may do with said props, it'll always be negative. Or I could be wrong, and there could be some validity to the arguments against the trampolines and frisbees. I just do wish there was a little more open-mindedness from longstanding fans of DCI.

I'm completely obsessed with Crown this year. Conceptual and musical step up from last year's incredible show. Bluecoats were also nice in theaters. I think this site waaaaay overhyped the whole deal so I was expecting a little more, because I was initially a little underwhelmed by the whole thing, but I like the concept and I think it could take them far, if not to first place. Scouts were really fun and I hope they clean it up big time, cause this show is top 5 worthy. Same with Boston and Cavies. Unfortunately I haven't seen Vanguard or BD yet, but I do have high hopes for both. I don't know, everybody's really awesome and fun this year (save for Cadets, whose show goes way too far with the narration and, however clean it already is, doesn't really bring anything interesting to the field). Sorry this post turned into a bit of a rambling mess.

On a more positive note, I'm really responding well to the second, all-black uniform. A little simple around the torso, it feels too bare to me, but I love the unique headgear and the sleeves. I'm also warming up very slightly to the black and white PR uniform after seeing them on the field.

Clearly unfinished, but mesmerizing, unique and a wonderful performance. I can't wait to see this show in August. Super excited.

Cadets 06 literally did a sequel to their previous show.

Wow! I mean GOSH! Holy hell these look wonderful. So different and so much softer than the last four years. Closest to 2011 than anything I guess, but I like that the 2013 sleeve is referenced to some degree. Love this so much.

I think this is the most excited I've been for Boston in a few years. That performance gave me chills, love the super aggressive drum parts.

I don't understand what you're implying about me or the band's uniform? I'm not defending its design by wearing it if that's what you're getting at?

The only time I've personally seen reactions/reacted on facebook was involving Phantom's, and I said among friends more or less what I said here. I'm not trying to speak for anybody, just myself. I would hate for anybody to be offended by it though. Nothing against the members or the corps as collective organizations, I'm just not responding to these uniform changes this year. I genuinely hope they grow on me with time.

So many unusual uniform decisions this year. It's as if the people at Crossmen, Phantom, Blue Knights and Boston said "how can we take what Crown and BD have been doing incredibly well for years but make it really really bad?" I just don't understand. Even from the pictures Crossmen's new outfits look kinda cheap. Am I being too harsh too early? I do feel bad for responding so negatively so quickly, but my immediate reaction for a lot of these reveals is confusion and disappointment.

Yeah. If they were maybe nicer and more articulate I'd say it was all in good fun and they deserved to have their opinions heard if they wanted, but they clearly don't have any real desire to say anything relevant about drum corps of the past. They're just taking super general information about DCI history and injecting half-###ed opinions into it, which just doesn't do any good for anybody.

I've seen a few more of their videos a while back where they reviewed some more modern shows, and they were a lot more watchable than this particular video. I mean, I'm 20, so I may not have any place in this sort of argument for a while, but I like to think that I'm obsessed with the activity enough that I do proper research before giving any real opinions on a corps or show as a whole (however harsh and exaggerated my opinions might sometimes be). That said, I think the problem with these guys is less their actual opinions and knowledge on older shows and more their ability to express their opinions like adults. A lot of their videos come down to "this is good/bad HAHA!", and I think they just don't understand how to critique something if you want anybody to value your opinion maybe? I mean, any opinion is valid if it can be backed and expressed well. Also, they've gotta learn to review something in the context of its respective decade. I think their worst offense was comparing a performance from 88 to something from 2012 and 13.

I think it would take a while for another 2004-type show to occur. But even that show, I remember the #### out of it. It was powerful! High brass had some #### in there that completely baffles me. That was a show that happened ten years ago, was very atypical of a lot of their previous and later shows like you said, but was powerful and memorable. Only a year later and I don't remember Triumphant Journey. Not a single second of it. The only part of Juliet I can remember is the closer and only because it's so common. Yet I can recount all of 08 and 10 off the top of my head. Phantom's just been flatlining for me lately, and it's very disappointing.

I always thought Juliet was just so literal and uninspired musically. The last few years (except, mostly, for Turandot) I've felt as though Phantom is becoming a parody of itself with the sprawling fantasies, simple, hammy musical delivery and ridiculous props. I credit Phantom for getting me interested in DCI but the last few shows, and now this one, have just felt SO silly and immature and poor. I don't know. I seriously seriously doubt they'll fall out of top 12, or even score lower than like 8th, but I do wish there was something I could look forward to in their program this year.

I think an argument can be made that Phantom's new...outfits are just costumes that every member happens to wear. So, like, a uniform costume. Costumed uniformity. Something. (This is just a really bad joke, I promise. Like Phantom's new uniforms! Whoa! I'm sorry.)

I haven't. And I could be totally wrong. Like I said, it's just based on rumors.

Everybody's making updates with show announcements in mind, so I guess I'll go for it. Still, this is almost entirely based on my own dickish opinion and nothing else. 1. Blue Devils are locked in to win if you ask me. They've historically been this anomaly, this juggernaut and culmination of ridiculous strength in every category that I can't explain. I'm constantly confused over why they seem to be such a hard sell with a lot of fans (DCP in particular), but if you ask me, the Blue Devils exist right now as the most modern, strongest and best representative of DCI as a whole today. And holy hell this show! Now don't get me wrong, they could slip up by taking the theme too literal and it could get super hammy, but seeing what they did with Dada and the next year with Rewrite of Spring, I have full confidence in this prediction. 2. Carolina Crown. I'm not particularly interested in the show, and I know it's not unheard of for huge falls in placement from one year to another, even with champions, and I have heard rumors that brass is considerably weaker, some staff even commenting that it'll be an uphill battle if they want to win Brass this year. Still, I feel comfortable putting them here. 3. Bluecoats have a wildly interesting show and I think they certainly deserve to move up from where they've been the last three years. 4. Cadets, however much I seriously dislike that organization as a whole, and I (somewhat shamefully do), they 're always better than I give them credit for. But my god the show. It just sounds awful on paper. 5. Vanguard. I'd love for them to medal but the longer I sit and think about it the more uncomfortable I am with what they're doing this year. I don't know. 6. Phantom. A lot of people seem to be complaining about them sticking with an all-female guard and having shows driven by strong female characters, and those complaints are kinda gross to me. More power to PR for being the closest we have to a feminist voice in competitive drum corps. (Also, can uniforms hurt results? Legitimate question, because Phantom's are...pretty awful.) 7. Cavaliers. Only because of the competition. But I do think they'll improve wildly upon last year. 8. Boston. Love the show. Too risky? I don't know. 9. Spirit. Love the show. My god, love the show. Nice uniforms too. 10. Scouts. 11. Blue Knights. 12. Troopers. Wishful thinking. I wonder if that's far off from my original prediction a couple months ago. I'm sure my opinion's evolved at least slightly. Whatever. I feel so silly doing all this because it's literally like playing with the results of hundreds of kids' months of insane work, but it is all in good fun. Honestly, I love every last one of them. Well, mostly.